Typically, baseball players practice contacting (hitting) a pitched baseball to increase their batting speed, eye-to-hand coordination for hitting a pitched bail in flight, ball control after contact and the probability of hitting the ball. Therefore, several training bats have been designed to enhance a baseball player's batting technique.
However, I have determined that when the batter is practicing contacting the ball with bats, shock forces are imparted to the batter's hands gripping the handle of the bat causing stinging and numbness, especially, when repeatedly contacting the ball. Therefore, the firm grip of the batter's hands around the bat's handle is comprised.
Several devices have been patented which are aimed at training bats.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,209, by Mollica, entitled "BATTING TRAINING DEVICE" discloses a batting training device which includes a handle and a weighted member movable relative to the handle along a longitudinal extending rod in response to the acceleration of the batting training device along a portion of a contact hitting swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,396, by Anderson, entitled "TRAINING BAT" discloses a training bat comprising a hollow cylindrical bat having a handle and a striking end. A disk is positioned in the interior of the bat at substantially the center of the bat. Additionally, a plate is positioned in the interior of the bat at the end of the striking end of the bat. An object is slidably coupled in the interior of the bat between the disk and plate. The training bat is essentially shaped in the form of a conventional bat. A weight is coupled within the training bat wherein the weight extends from the disk toward the end of the bat in close proximity to the handle. The weight is coupled to a resilient member so that the resilient member bears weight against the weight to keep the weight from moving.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,773, by Pomilia, entitled "BASEBALL TRAINING BAT" discloses a bat having a uniform outside diameter, the entire length thereof. The bat is essentially an elongated tubular member made of iron pipe material commonly referred to as 3/4 inch pipe. The bat is filled with foamed material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,111, by Alvarez, entitled "PRACTICE BAT" discloses a practice bat comprising a handle portion and a weighted end portion interconnected by a resilient spring. When the bat is swung, the momentum of the weighted end portion will cause it to lag behind and then move ahead of a longitudinal at rest axis of the handle portion causing the player's wrists to break or bend.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,996, by Boyce, entitled "PRACTICE BAT" discloses a baseball practice bat which includes a head portion and a grip portion. The head portion and grip portion are bridged together via an articulating joint which provides connected flexure or resilience. Such articulating joint is formed by a still coil spring which is embedded in a potting resin such as an epoxy resin with a suitable hardener.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,894, by Salisbury, entitled "BASEBALL TRAINING BAT OR SIMILAR ARTICLE" discloses a bat having a generally cylindrical tapered barrel portion joined to a handle portion having a flared butt end joined together via a central section. The central section has a small diameter to minimize the hitting area. In one embodiment, the central section is a torsion bar which converts shock forces such as the impact of the ball on the barrel portion of the bat to prevent imparting of the shock forces to the hands of the batter on the handle portion.
It can be readily seen that there exists the continuing need for a training bat having a handle member with a shock absorbing coupler and a detachable elongated contact surface member coupled in the shock absorbing coupler wherein the detachable elongated contact surface member has a width significantly less than the width of a regular bat to enhance the eye-to-hand coordination to contact a pitched ball with such detachable elongated contact surface member having such reduced width. The shock absorbing coupler serves to absorb shock forces imparted to the batter's hands gripping the handle member when the ball is contacted (hit). Thereby, the stinging felt in the batter's hands after contacting the ball is significantly minimized.
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially different in structure, methodology and approach from that of the prior training bats.